Meet our newest team member from the boroughs of New York City, Kollin Wasserlein. Here’s a few fun facts about Kollin with a K….
He’s a Massachusetts Institute of Technology alum
Originally from Utah
A Talented Artist!
How did you get involved with the company?
I heard of Make48 through a friend who works with the Connecticut Invention Convention, Nick Briere, who has consulted with Make48 for a little while now. It came up that I was hoping to find a position that leveraged my writing skills, and where I could really believe in the kind of work that I was doing. Nick introduced me to Tom, and it ended up being a perfect fit!
What is your favorite part about your role?
My favorite part of this job in general is the team I get to work with. Everyone was so welcoming early on, and we all seem to be on the same wavelength in conversations about work and otherwise. I mean, sure, the company is full of Chiefs fans, but other than that it's been pretty great.
Specific to this role, I really enjoy the opportunity to be strategic in my writing. The team has given me a lot of room to be independent and make mistakes, and I've been able to take each grant as an individual opportunity and tailor the proposals accordingly.
What have you learned since working with the team?
Make48 has tapped into something great... I'm not sure if it's a community, a mindset, 2 steps away from a cult or all of the above, but there's something going on at these events that is truly infectious. As soon as that clock started ticking, everyone was ready to put work in and help each other out in a way that you just don't see at other events of a similar scale. I've drunk the Kool-Aid, so to speak, on the worthiness of this effort, in a way that I didn't quite understand when I first took this position.
Tell me a little about yourself…..
I live in New York City, The Big Apple, the City that Never Sleeps, Concrete Jungle where Dreams are Made Of, on 122nd and Amsterdam. I live with my girlfriend of five years, Ellie, and our dog, Möbius. We moved here after college for Ellie to pursue her PhD in neuroscience at Columbia, and because I've wanted to live in New York my entire life. In my free time, I like to paint, read, and in non-pandemic time, act in sketch and improv comedy.
Since we work with makers, what’s something you’ve made that you’re proud of or the craziest thing?
I've made a few things, but I think I'm most proud of this mural welcoming people to Hooper, UT, the town where I went to high school....
If you weren’t working for Make48, what do you think you’d be doing?
That's a tricky question, but I would definitely still be writing. I would probably be working harder at developing an audience on TikTok and on my podcast with my mom, as well as working on finding a theatre to produce a musical I'm writing. All things I plan to do anyway, but have fallen in priority since beginning at Make48.
What inspires you?
I'm most inspired by new and interesting ways of creating that haven't yet been explored. When people take big risks, especially breaking conventions, it shows how much more room there is to innovate, and that inspires me to reevaluate my strategy in my own pursuits.